Former Manchester United player Andrei Kanchelskis remembers the famous episode in which his teammate Eric Cantona hit a fan because of insults. Recall that this happened in a match against Crystal Palace on January 25, 1995.
I saw with my own eyes how Cantona hit a fan. Regardless of the reaction, you should never insult your family. Anyone would have done the same thing in Eric’s place; he defended his family. He did the right thing, I don’t even know what I would have done.
The team did not react to this in any way. We played at Crystal Palace, so after the match we went home. And the next day, Cantona spoke with attorneys and advocates. You should never draw hasty conclusions; the next day, everyone was talking. After this incident, Canton was disqualified; he had to go to work: sweeping the streets, cleaning the hospital.
Ferguson didn’t react after the match either, because, once again, you can’t draw conclusions in the locker room. We returned to Manchester and spoke the next day. This is how it should be, because otherwise the players might fight and attack the coach out of emotion. In this case, it was impossible to do anything right away – we washed, changed clothes and left. And the next day we spoke calmly.
